Print Concepts: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

• Students correctly form words in print and cursive.

• Students should form words in print legibly and with automaticity.

• Students attend to the appropriate spacing between letters, words, and sentences when writing with automaticity. 

• Teachers demonstrate correct letter formation in print and cursive.

• Teachers provide opportunities for practice of correct word formation in print and cursive.

• Teachers monitor students for the correct formation of words in print/cursive and provide feedback as needed.

• Teachers demonstrate appropriate spacing between letters, words, and sentences.

• Teachers explicitly teach letters that have similar formations in groups (e.g., c, a, d, and g start the same way.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to use appropriate spacing as they form letters, words, and sentences

When students struggle to learn cursive, teachers can...

• provide direct instruction on how to connect letters within words.

• provide daily practice with words that are most common and used frequently.

• introduce like strokes together and provide an auditory path for forming the letters.

When students struggle to use appropriate spacing, teachers can...

• provide tools to support students in making spaces between words, such as popsicle sticks.

• provide examples of text with appropriate spacing for reference. 

• demonstrate the importance of spaces in relaying information by using/creating mentor texts with no spacing.

• provide checklists for students to check spacing before turning in written work.

• 4.2.W.3: Revise drafts

• 4.8.W: Independent writing